TRAFFIC-STANDARD PLAN ADVANCES

Planning Commission OKs rewriting, softening policy for developers

It’s a long way from becoming law in Riverside County. But the county Planning Commission gave the green light Wednesday to a general plan rewrite that would weaken a policy intended to prevent new developments from overwhelming neighborhoods with traffic.

After a very brief discussion, the commission agreed to move forward a planning staff proposal giving broad authority to the Board of Supervisors to approve projects that don’t adhere to the traffic standard.

“To me, this is classic one size does not fit all,” said Commissioner John Petty, in supporting the proposal. “There has to be flexibility.”

The commission recommended the supervisors initiate an amendment to the general plan, which is a blueprint for future growth in unincorporated areas of Riverside County.

As it stands now, residential and commercial developers have to design projects so traffic flow is at “level of service C” or better during rush hour.

Level C means traffic is heavy, but moving smoothly for the most part. It is between level A, or free flow, and level F, which is gridlock.

The county’s general plan says projects must deliver roads in that level C condition. There are, however, two types of places where the standard can be ignored: at intersections with highways, and in community centers where there is a desire to promote walking or public transportation.

What the amendment would do is go well beyond that and give county supervisors wide latitude to waive the C requirement for projects, if environmental impact reports have been prepared.

The Endangered Habitats League and a French Valley neighborhood group raised objections to the plan, in letters sent to the county before Wednesday’s meeting. And two league representatives attended the meeting.

“The county already has legendary congestion,” Michael Fitts, the league’s staff attorney, told commissioners. “With this amendment, congestion will only get worse slowly and imperceptibly … until it’s too late. And then there’s no money to fix the roads.”

The county counters that the change would not lead to widespread congestion.

“We are certainly not promoting gridlock,” Juan Perez, director of transportation and land management, said in an interview Tuesday.

Perez said the proposal is being driven by questions that courts have raised about how firm the level C standard is. He said the amendment is meant to “clarify” that it is a target, not a mandate to be followed even when it is impractical.

And he said the board should have the authority to balance traffic concerns against other factors and a project’s overall benefits.

Officials also have emphasized that other counties, such as San Diego, Ventura and Orange, and cities such as Temecula and Palm Springs have a lower target of level D. That generally means long lines form and speeds slow during rush hour.

Dan Silver, Endangered Habitats League executive director, said after the meeting that there is a difference, however.

At least in those other counties and cities, there is a minimum traffic-flow standard that developers cannot get around, Silver said. He said Riverside County is in essence proposing to go to no standard at all, in saying its level C target can be ignored and the board has the liberty to determine what the traffic conditions will be.